Olympics and Paralympics / breakdance
The Bristol breakdancing pioneer
Breakdancing is featuring for the first time at the Olympic Games in Paris and a dancer from Bristol is one of the unsung pioneers of the sport.
The much-anticipated breaking competition will consist of dancers known as B-Boys and B-Girls facing off in solo battles, which will see them unleash spectacular combinations of improvised power moves to the beat of a DJ’s tracks.
While her focus has shifted away from competing, Sea Mills breakdancer Lauren Filer’s illustrious career has seen her perform around the world for the likes of Pharrell Williams and Rudimental.
is needed now More than ever
With breakdancing making its Olympic debut, there is no better time to bring attention to Lauren’s incredible journey within the art form and, in doing so, provide some insight into what makes it worth tuning into over the coming weeks.
Lauren’s love affair with breakdancing began during an A-Level art trip to New York, where she was “instantly mesmerised” by some B-Boys dancing in the subway.
What captivated Lauren was how their dancing “combined athleticism with charisma,” something she feels makes it completely unique to other sports.
“I lacked that in all the sports I was doing, they were too formal,” Lauren told Bristol24/7. “Breakdancing allowed personality and character to come through, as well as prowess and skill.”
After watching their performance and even joining in with a few moves of her own, Lauren was “hooked” and, upon returning to Bristol, began attending breakdancing lessons in the former dance centre on Jacob’s Wells Road at every opportunity she got.
As her skills developed, Lauren was eventually taken onto Bristol B-Boy crew, Physical Jerks. But the road from novice to crew member was far from easy.
“You had to earn your stripes,” she said. “I was one of the only girls at the time and had to battle my way into getting respect.
“I just kept coming back and learning things until I was eventually doing stuff people didn’t expect from me.”
Away from the comfort of her crew, Lauren’s first experience as a solo competitor came at Gloucester Town Hall with only six months of breaking under her belt.
“I thought it would just be for fun as some of the dancers were the best in the UK at the time, but I ended up getting into the final with the best B-Boy in the UK.”
While Lauren lost by the narrowest of margins, she was “pretty proud” of herself and knew she had “got people’s attention”.
From that moment on, Lauren never looked back, winning various national breakdance events, representing the UK in a battle on MTV, and eventually touring the USA with some of the best breakdancers in the world as part of hip-hop collective Zulu Nation.
However, Lauren’s seemingly unstoppable ascent in the world of breaking was brought to a resounding halt when she contracted a serious illness while teaching in townships and orphanages in Africa, which left her unable to dance for three years.
Fortunately for Lauren, she never gave up, as the best moments of her career were yet to come, with Bristol’s B-Girl being spotted by Rudimental while performing a set at Glastonbury Festival.
The band were so impressed by her moves they invited her to tour with them in New York, which included shows in Times Square and Central Park.
Sea Mills breakdancer Lauren Filer performing with Rudimental – photo: Lauren Filer
In 2016, Glastonbury proved a successful sight for Lauren yet again as she performed on the Pyramid Stage alongside Pharrell Williams in front of 200,000 people.
Despite the incredible highs, Lauren’s breakdancing journey has also been fraught with some unfortunate lows, most notably in the form of sexism.
“I faced quite a lot of misogyny and objectification while battling,” she said. “Sometimes I would do really well in a competition, but the comments would not be geared towards my dancing, let’s put it that way.”
Lauren is “really glad” that the sport has progressed over the past few years regarding the attitude towards women, and she has certainly played her part in this progression by touring with her best friend as a female duo and through establishing a dance academy, Exception-Elle.
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Speaking on her academy, she said: “Originally, I set it up with the view of encouraging exceptional females in hip-hop.
“I really wanted to make it a safe space for females. I want to encourage young women and girls to believe that they can do it and train safely and comfortably.”
The coaching Lauren provides in Bristol is just one component of what she calls the city’s “thriving breakdance scene”, which has come on leaps and bounds over the past few years.
“When I first started, there was just one main crew in Bristol and limited training spaces,” she said. “Now there’s a regular training space, and loads of dancers go there. It is fantastic to see.”
Looking away from Bristol to the streets of Paris, Lauren is “incredibly happy” to see breaking included in this year’s Olympic Games.
Lauren does admit, however, that breaking’s new Olympic status has divided opinion within the community as while “some people feel like breakdancing is an art and not a sport, others think it is a perfect platform to help it grow”.
For Lauren, breaking can certainly be seen as a sport: “The top b-boys in the world are as skilled as any other Olympian, and they deserve to be recognised.
“The amount of training, dedication and time they put into this is of the level of an Olympic athlete.
“People are going to be shocked when they see the things they can do with their bodies.”
Main photo: Jerel Mascarinas
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